Dead in the Water
by InzanityFirez
Summary: After Oz is injured in a battle with a Chain, Gilbert feels like he's failed his master...until Oz reminds Gilbert that servants and masters have duties, and so do best friends.   My second 'song fic' XD


**So, I decided to do another 'shuffle-my-IPOD-and-write-a-fic-based-on-the-song' I was thrown off because I haven't ever even heard this song before…but it's kinda nice XD And it provided a nice triangle…GilxOzxAlice, but there's not a couple I don't think it's more…it's just a story? XD Set in current story-verse time but there's no spoilers I believe. XD The song is 'Dead in the Water' by Hawthorne Heights~ **

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_The medicine is blending in mixing the blood with oxygen_

_I need this right now to figure myself out_

_Cutting through the ribbons of self doubt_

_I never thought you'd see me this way_

_You are the worst and I am to blame_

_Fff. _Smoke slipped into the chilly night air as Gilbert Nightray took a long drag from his cigarette and stared up at the moon from his position leaned against a wall on the balcony outside of Oz's (and Alice's) bedroom. Tonight had been…surreal. The pain of it, of his own failure gnawed at him as familiar doubts plagued him. Oz had been hurt because of his inability to perform his most basic duty.

To protect his master.

"_A Chain?" Oz queried as he kicked his legs back and forth from his seat on a chair beside Alice. _

"_Yes, a rather troublesome one, it's been very active and seems to have a fondness for young girls…I assumed that this case would have particular interest to you, therefore, Oz-kun." Break said as he tilted his head._

"_**Seeing as how Oz is such a flirt~" **__Emily chimed with a giggle. _

_Alice huffed and Oz scratched the back of his head with a faintly sheepish chuckle. "So would you mind lending a hand, Oz-kun and Miss Alice?" Break asked sweetly, as if they really had a choice. _

"_Hmph. I guess we have to. It's annoying when such weak Chains are running around." Alice said with her arms crossed and a faint scowl on her lips._

_Oz eyed her for a moment. She hadn't mentioned her memories, not at all recently, and he still wondered if she wanted them back or not…and if she found them, would she still be his Alice? Or…maybe…Jack's Alice? _

"_I'm coming too." Gilbert finally spoke up from his position behind Oz's chair._

_Oz smiled brightly up at his servant while Alice simply huffed again…_

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"_Oz! Look out!" _

_The Chain was an unusual one, it could split itself into two separate entities. One was swift with spiked-tentacle-like arms that held a temporary paralysis liquid while the other was slow but with gnashing fangs and terrible strength. B-Rabbit was locked in a fight with the latter, but the swift one had chosen to target Oz. _

_Oz barely jumped out of the way as the swift one charged him, but he couldn't miss the tentacle that grazed his arm and he winced in pain. An instant leaden feeling spread through him and his eyes widened. _

"_Oz!" Gilbert ran up beside him, he was uncertain as to why the other hadn't run but he shot his gun at the Chain all the same. Beside them, B-Rabbit was sent into a nearby wall. _

"_Nnn…Alice!" he took a staggered step forward, why did his body not move correctly? He slid his gaze to Gilbert. "In the spikes…there's something…I can't move right…ah, Gil!" One of the tentacles with a spike aimed straight at Gilbert's stomach came forward and Oz shoved himself forward with all of his strength. He slammed into Gilbert and gasped as one of the spikes pierced his chest. Because of his position, it slid sideways rather than punctured him, but blood trailed along his shirt all the same._

"_Oz, no!" Gilbert was up in an instant as he shot his gun, but the loss of a tentacle didn't affect the Chain, although it's nearby contractor screamed. When it made another swipe at Oz he stepped in front of Oz protectively and raised his gun-_

_-Only to see a flash of black and red as B-Rabbit interceded and killed the Chain with one swipe. _

_Alice reverted and ran to Oz. "Oz!" she stood before him with a hand on his shoulder. Oz was no longer able to stand and had slumped against Gilbert. "Can't…move.." he muttered._

"_Those spikes must have had something to immobilize the victims." Gilbert said through gritted teeth. He had failed, and Alice had saved Oz…and Oz had gotten hurt, protecting Gilbert… "I'm sorry, Oz." he whispered as he hefted the other up bridal style. Oz's emerald eyes found Gilbert's a moment and his lips moved as if to reply but no words came out as Oz's eyes slipped shut. _

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_Close the door, lock it tight_

_Then I'll know you're safe tonight_

_Turn on a song that means the most_

_Believe I'm there and hold me close_

Gilbert clenched his hand into a fist at the thought as he snapped the remains of his cigarette in half and tossed them into an ashtray on the table. He had carried Oz home and taken him to bed, and Alice hadn't said a word. Surely she blamed him…surely she was arrogant, that she had saved him that was. Gilbert had failed his master…

He headed to the entrance to the room and stared inside. Oz lay in his bed, his chest wrapped in a bandage and Alice beside him in a chair, half-on the bed. Gilbert felt his heart sink further at the sight. Oz's pale face, the stain of red against the white bandages, Oz's predicament…it was because he'd failed, because he just couldn't be as usual as Alice…and even Oz's own powers seemed to exceed what Gilbert could do for him. So what was his purpose then? He couldn't protect Oz as a servant, nor take care of him as a friend, so what was his purpose? Did Oz keep him around out of…pity? The thought only pained him and he slid a hand to his chest and clenched a fist around his shirt.

"_I wish to remain your servant always." _

As for Alice…

_She is in my bloodstream, tonight she's draining me_

_The room is filled with reds and blues_

_I follow as she leads into the darkness_

_Drying up my veins, she's a ghost, a silhouette_

_Calling out my name_

Gilbert stared at the stupid rabbit who lay at Oz's bedside. She was a Chain. A monster who consumed humans and dragged her contractors into the Hell that was the Abyss…except that she wasn't. She laughed, and cried, she was temperamental and selfish like a child, but sweet and curious too, and she cared for Oz…and for the rest of her 'comrades'. B-Rabbit was also 'Alice'. And he hated it, he hated that he couldn't do the one thing that would save his master with certainty. If he killed Alice, Oz would live and every moment that the stupid rabbit kept breathing was another proof of Gilbert's failure as a servant. But…

"_Thank you…for stopping him." _

Alice could touch a part of Oz that Gilbert couldn't reach. Gilbert would always accept and love Oz, no matter what, and Oz had to know that. But Alice…she was something else, her acceptance mattered in a different way. Gilbert held Oz with kinship, a kind of brotherly love, but what Oz felt for Alice, he hated to admit it, but…wasn't it…the other kind of love? And so if he killed her, the first girl that he'd ever seen Oz care for that way…wasn't that a betrayal too, even if it was to save him? And if he couldn't do it, simply because he couldn't…because he was too weak…because-

"G..il..?"

Gilbert jumped and stared down at his side in surprise. Oz stood beside him with a faintly frustrated look and Gilbert suspected that Oz was still suffering the ill-effects of that paralysis venom. "Oz, you should be in bed…" he started to steer the other back but Oz tugged away to stare up at him with a stubborn sort of frown.

"You're-" Oz swayed on his feet and Gilbert caught him.

"Oz!"

"I'm fine." he muttered as his arms slid around Gilbert's waist and he gripped the other's shirt as he buried his head in the other's shirt a moment.

Gilbert froze, uncertain a moment before his arms slid around Oz in turn and he held the other close.

_Close the door, lock it tight_

_Then I'll know you're safe tonight_

_Turn on a song that means the most_

_Believe I'm there and hold me close_

"You…have that look…again…like a lost child.." Oz mumbled tiredly against him and Gilbert blinked before he looked away a moment as that day in Sablier came back to him.

"Oz.." his grip tightened on the other as he stared down at the ground and tried to pretend that he didn't see Oz's emerald eyes on him, watching him intently. "I…I failed you." he finally muttered.

Oz was silent a moment and Gilbert winced. So Oz agreed then…"How did you fail me?" Oz asked and Gilbert blinked. "Because…I got hurt..?"

"…It's my duty to protect you…you're my master.."

Oz stared up at Gilbert before he pinched Gilbert's back through his shirt, the best that he could really do at the moment, just walking over to Gilbert had been a pain in his present state. As it was, he started to slump and Gilbert allowed them both to go to the ground as he leaned his back against a wall and held Oz in his arms and mostly on his lap. "Is that the only reason…that you protect me?" Oz asked quietly.

Gilbert blinked. "W-What?"

"You…heard me." Oz muttered as he leaned his head against Gilbert's shoulder and eyed his servant.

Gilbert realized that the other expected a serious answer and he stared open-mouthed a moment before he finally replied. "…Oz…I…more than being my master…if I lost you…if anything happened to you, I…to me you're-" he trailed off, uncertain of how to put it into words. "You…mean everything to me, Oz." Gilbert finally mumbled and he stared down at his legs, Oz didn't believe in things like that…such things made him uncomfortable-

-A small hand slipped into Gilbert's and squeezed it tightly as Oz smiled faintly up at him.

"I'm glad, Gil…because, as for what Gil means to me…it's the same…that's why, even if it makes you feel sad…I have to protect you too…more than it being a Lord's duty…you are most important to me, Gil. My precious best friend." he gave a tired chuckle. "I told that to Alice…when I told her about you…ask her if you want.."

Gilbert stared down at Oz, stunned. What he had just said…and he had told…Alice? "You don't have to-"

"-I shouldn't." Oz interrupted with a bit of a huff as he flicked Gilbert's hand lightly. "You should…know this already…but…you've always been so…stupid sometimes, Gil.." he mumbled as his eyes closed and he snuggled against Gilbert a bit. Gilbert blinked in surprise yet again before he lowered his head and leaned it against Oz's lightly. "But you'll…remember now, right? It's okay if you…forget though…'cuz I'll keep reminding you…I need you by my side…as my prized servant…and my best friend…so don't be sad, 'kay, Gil? It makes me…sad too…when my Gil, is sad…or hurt…I like it when my Gil smiles…" he mumbled more faintly.

Gilbert felt his heart ache. Oz's words were a balm to his soul, exactly what he'd needed to hear and more than he'd dared to hope. "Oz.." Oz didn't reply and he noted that the other's breathing seemed fainter and sure enough, when he gently shook the other, Oz didn't move. _He fell asleep…_ Gilbert sighed and then chuckled softly as he lifted a hand to Oz's head and stroked his hair lightly.

"I'll try to remember, Oz…you're such a troublesome master…when you're hurt or sad, it kills me…and when you smile for me, a real smile, that's…the Oz…my Oz…that I like best.."

_A teary-eyed Gilbert stared with a mixture of a wince and shame at his young master. Oz had startled him cooking and he'd cut himself, but for him to be such a baby…he didn't mean to, but… "I'm sorry, young master-"_

"_Silly, Gil." Oz interrupted as he grabbed Gilbert's hand. "You're so clumsy." Oz licked the blood away and Gilbert stared at him in horror and tried to tug his hand away._

"_Y-Young master, you mustn't-" _

_Oz was stronger and kept hold of Gilbert as he then pulled one of the ribbons from his outfit and wrapped it around Gilbert's finger. He pressed a little kiss to it as a finished touch before he released Gilbert's hand. "There, all better now, right, Gil?" _

_Gilbert stared at his young master and then his finger before he nodded and tried not to cry at how stupidly happy the gesture had made him. "Yes, young master, thank you.." _

_Oz smiled at him, a rare, warm smile as he lifted a hand to ruffle Gilbert's hair. "Be more careful, 'kay? Even if you get hurt though, I'll take care of it, cause that's the Lord's duty too…" _

"The Lord's duty…" Gilbert murmured with a wry chuckle, even now, Oz still took care of him. "That's my Oz too.." Soft, golden eyes gazed down at the boy in his arms as he pressed a soft kiss to Oz's forehead before he rose and brought the other back to bed. Gilbert then took a seat beside him to sleep for the night. Oz would never be a proper master, but that was alright, he loved Oz as he was…his precious young master…and best friend.

"_Always."_

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**I had fun writing this XD yayyyy~ **


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